Soil carbon and nutrient stocks under Scots pine plantations in comparison to European beech forests: a paired-plot study across forests with different management history and precipitation regimes

Marco Diers; Robert Weigel; Heike Culmsee; Christoph Leuschner

doi:10.1186/s40663-021-00330-y

Forest Ecosystems 2021, 8(3): 47 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-021-00330-y

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Open Access | Issue | Published: 15 July 2021

Soil carbon and nutrient stocks under Scots pine plantations in comparison to European beech forests: a paired-plot study across forests with different management history and precipitation regimes

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Marco Diers^¹

(

), Robert Weigel^¹, Heike Culmsee^¹, Christoph Leuschner^{¹^,²}

Plant Ecology, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Goettingen, Untere Karspuele 2, 37073, Goettingen, Germany

Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University of Goettingen, Buesgenweg 1, 37077, Goettingen, Germany

Keywords:

Forest history, Soil organic carbon, Nitrogen, Basic cations, Fagus sylvatica , Paired plots, Pinus sylvestris , Productivity effect, Tree species effect

Cite this article:

Diers M, Weigel R, Culmsee H, et al. Soil carbon and nutrient stocks under Scots pine plantations in comparison to European beech forests: a paired-plot study across forests with different management history and precipitation regimes. Forest Ecosystems, 2021, 8(3): 47. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40663-021-00330-y

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Abstract Full text About this article

Abstract

Background

Organic carbon stored in forest soils (SOC) represents an important element of the global C cycle. It is thought that the C storage capacity of the stable pool can be enhanced by increasing forest productivity, but empirical evidence in support of this assumption from forests differing in tree species and productivity, while stocking on similar substrate, is scarce.

Methods

We determined the stocks of SOC and macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, potassium and magnesium) in nine paired European beech/Scots pine stands on similar Pleistocene sandy substrates across a precipitation gradient (560–820 mm∙yr^{− 1}) in northern Germany and explored the influence of tree species, forest history, climate, and soil pH on SOC and nutrient pools.

Results

While the organic layer stored on average about 80% more C under pine than beech, the pools of SOC and total N in the total profile (organic layer plus mineral soil measured to 60 cm and extrapolated to 100 cm) were greater under pine by about 40% and 20%, respectively. This contrasts with a higher annual production of foliar litter and a much higher fine root biomass in beech stands, indicating that soil C sequestration is unrelated to the production of leaf litter and fine roots in these stands on Pleistocene sandy soils. The pools of available P and basic cations tended to be higher under beech. Neither precipitation nor temperature influenced the SOC pool, whereas tree species was a key driver. An extended data set (which included additional pine stands established more recently on former agricultural soil) revealed that, besides tree species identity, forest continuity is an important factor determining the SOC and nutrient pools of these stands.

Conclusion

We conclude that tree species identity can exert a considerable influence on the stocks of SOC and macronutrients, which may be unrelated to productivity but closely linked to species-specific forest management histories, thus masking weaker climate and soil chemistry effects on pool sizes.

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About this article

Soil carbon and nutrient stocks under Scots pine plantations in comparison to European beech forests: a paired-plot study across forests with different management history and precipitation regimes

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Marco Diers^¹

(

), Robert Weigel^¹, Heike Culmsee^¹, Christoph Leuschner^{¹^,²}

Plant Ecology, Albrecht-von-Haller-Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Goettingen, Untere Karspuele 2, 37073, Goettingen, Germany

Centre of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use (CBL), University of Goettingen, Buesgenweg 1, 37077, Goettingen, Germany

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Keywords: Forest history, Soil organic carbon, Nitrogen, Basic cations, Fagus sylvatica , Paired plots, Pinus sylvestris , Productivity effect, Tree species effect

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Publication history

Received: 24 December 2020

Accepted: 29 June 2021

Published: 15 July 2021

Issue date: September 2021

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Acknowledgements

This study is part of the WiNat-project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) (project number: 01LC1314B), the financial support of which is gratefully acknowledged. We would like to thank Mechthild Stange and Marvin Kühne for support during the field work and the technical assistants of the Department of Plant Ecology, University of Goettingen, for the laboratory analyses. We also thank Agnes Förster for helpful comments on the manuscript.

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